The Whirl Cup

The next day, the preliminary rounds began. Yugi was pitting his Slowpoke against his opponent's Seel. Slowpoke launched his Water Gun, but Seel dodged it and attacked with Ice Beam. Slowpoke just yawned and took the attacks without feeling anything. Seel was too busy trying to attack Slowpoke that he wasn't aware of Slowpoke's Yawn. Suddenly, Seel became drowsy. Slowpoke attacked with his Confusion and Seel was no longer able to battle.

In Joey's first battle, he was pitting his Wooper against a Magikarp. The weak fish jumped in the water and just splashed around. Wooper smacked him around with his tail and defeated him with ease. After winning the battle, Wooper glowed and began evolving. He was now a strong and slick Quagsire.

Yugi and Joey fought against other Pokémon like Shellder and Seaking and they were winning their battles. Who could expect any less from a couple of champions? When the matches were through, they met up at the main gate and high-fived each other. By the way things were going, Emily and Kaiba agreed that there was a good chance that Yugi and Joey would face each other in the competition.

Then Emily remembered. "Yugi, you have a Slowpoke, right? And, Joey, you have a Poliwhirl too."

Yugi and Joey face each other. "Yeah?"

"Well, I was thinking," then she reached into her bag and pulled out two King's Rocks. "I've been holding on to these for a while and I was thinking maybe you guys should have them."

Yugi and Joey take the King's Rocks from her. "Thanks, Em," Joey tells her.

"Yeah, thank you," said Yugi.

Poliwhirl got excited and began jumping up and down. Joey lost his grip on the King's Rock, but Poliwhirl caught it for him. But when he did, he began glowing. When the light faded, Poliwhirl took on the shape of a green frog. He was now a Politoed. Yugi lowered his hand and was unaware that Slowpoke was reaching for his King's Rock. When he touched it, a wild Shellder appeared and clamped on his head and he began evolving as well. He stood on his hind legs and was wearing a frilly collar around his neck and a Shellder for a crown. He evolved into Slowking.

"Wow, two evolutions in one day," said Yugi.

"Hold on, where did that Shellder come from?" Joey asked.

"That was the Shellder Slowking was fishing for when he was still a Slowpoke. After I captured him, the Shellder was kind of following us around," Yugi answered.

"Interesting," said Emily.

Kaiba faced his friends and told him, "You guys should get some rest. The competition starts tomorrow." Yugi and Joey agree and shake hands with each other.

The day of the competition had now arrived. All competitors were in the stadium ready for the opening ceremony. Leading the ceremony was a beautiful young girl with light violet hair and blue eyes and a dress as blue as the ocean itself. It was Maya, the sea priestess. "Welcome," she announced. "Welcome to our friends old and new as we celebrate the Whirl Cup. We are most pleased to be able to share with you our love and appreciation of all water Pokémon. And at the same time, we are so happy to include each and every one of you as true heroes of the sea and may every one of you receive the ability to communicate with our water Pokémon brothers and sisters with this magnificent sea spirit." And she raised her jeweled staff.

"And so, with our united purpose, I shall now engulf the sea spirit union." Maya positioned the jewel on her staff close to the sun and a blue light glowed from it. "And now, let the Whirl Cup begin!" And everyone cheered for the competitors.

For Yugi's first match, he chose Mantine. His opponent chose Kingdra. Mantine dove underwater and began swimming around. Kingdra used his Twister to create a whirlpool. Mantine tried to fight against it, but got caught in the vortex. Kingdra let up on his Twister and launched his Water Gun. Mantine shook himself back to his senses and glided away to dodge the attack. Kingdra tried to attack with Hydro Pump. Mantine glided through the swirling water gracefully. He tried to use Take Down, but Kingdra dived underwater. To obscure himself, Kingdra used Smokescreen. Mantine was the first to come to the surface. He glided around looking for Kingdra. Just then, Kingdra came to the surface and surprised Mantine. Kingdra was about to launch another Hydro Pump, but Mantine wrapped his tail around his snout and sealed it shut. Kingdra began to bloat with all the water building up inside. When Mantine loosened his grip, Kindra began shooting in the air like a balloon free of air. When he finally ran out of water, he floated on the surface like a dead fish. He was no longer able to battle.

It was now day two of the Whirl Cup and Joey was finally getting a chance to battle. He called on Quagsire and his opponent called on Qwilfish. Qwilfish made the first move by attacking with Water Gun, but Quagsire just stood there. He was taking the attack to keep his strength up because of his special ability Water Absorb. After getting drenched, Quagsire launched his Mud Shot. It was super-effective against Qwilfish because he was a poison-type as well as a water-type. Qwilfish began swallowing the water in the battlefield to make himself bloated. Now that he was fully bloated, he could use the spikes on his back and launch them for his Pin Missile attack. Quagsire avoided injury by shielding himself with Muddy Water. Qwilfish tried to attack Quagsire head-on with a Take Down. Quagsire tried to smack him away with his tail, but ended up getting hurt because of Qwilfish's special ability Poison Point. But it didn't matter. Qwilfish was no longer able to battle.

The group met up at the main gate. "Wow, today was awesome," said Emily.

Joey agreed. "Everyone had really incredible Pokemon. And the best part is Yugi and I made it to the second round."

That was good news, but the next surprise wasn't going to be a good one. "Guys, the matchups for tomorrow have already been decided. And let me tell you, I don't think it's what you're expecting." Kaiba was right. Yugi and Joey were going to be facing each other in the next round.

"No way!" gasped Joey.

"So soon?" Yugi asked.

They faced each other with the same surprised expression. But they quickly pulled themselves together and smiled. It was just a game. There was nothing personal on the line for any of them. They were going to fight with everything they had and remember to have fun. So they shook hands and wished each other good luck.

The next day, Yugi and Joey were ready for their battle. Joey chose Politoed as his first Pokémon. Yugi chose Mantine as his first Pokémon. Mantine glided towards Politoed for a Wing attack, but Politoed used Bounce to jump out of the way. He jumped into the water, but Mantine dove underwater too and began using Whirlpool. Politoed tried to get out of the vortex, but couldn't. Mantine charged in and used Take Down. Politoed was out of the vortex and back on the platforms. Mantine tried to attack with Supersonic, but Politoed used Bounce to dodge. He charged right at Mantine and began smacking him with Double Slap. Mantine was no longer able to battle.

Yugi withdrew Mantine and called on Slowking. Joey noticed that Politoed was looking a little tired, but Politoed told him he could keep battling. So Politoed launched his Bubble Beam. Slowking stopped the bubbles with his Confusion and attacked with Psychic. Politoed became confused and was having a hard time keeping his balance. Slowking charged in and used Zen Head Butt, knocking Politoed out.

Now Joey was down to one Pokémon. He called on Croconaw to take it from here. Slowking used Confusion to lift Croconaw and toss him in the water. Croconaw came to the surface and began swimming towards Slowking. He was about to use Bite, but Slowking acted fast and used Zen Head Butt, blasting Croconaw to the other side of the arena. Already, Croconaw was knocked out. No one expected that to happen. No one ever expects anything great from such an unusual Pokémon. That's why they're full of surprises. Joey wasn't disappointed that he lost. He was glad that his best friend won and was going to the next round.

It was time for Yugi's next battle. He chose Slowking as his first Pokémon and his opponent chose Gyarados. Yugi was nervous. The opposing Gyarados was wearing a Mega Stone, meaning that his opponent had a Keystone. Slowking made the first move by attacking with Yawn. Gyarados launched his Hyper Beam. Slowking took a direct hit, but managed to get back on his feet. Gyarados used Hydro Pump, another merciless attack. Slowking dodged it by jumping in the water. He came to the surface and used Yawn to make Gyarados drowsy.

Yugi's opponent was about to take the match to the next level. She touched her Keystone and the Mega Stone Gyarados was wearing started reacting to it. Gyarados had now Mega Evolved. He avoided Slowking's Yawn and attacked with Hyper Beam. And because it was stronger than the last one, Slowking was defeated.

Yugi withdrew Slowking and called on Mantine. Although Gyarados Mega Evolved, he was pretty tired after using those powerful attacks. He used Hydro Pump, but Mantine dodged it and used Take Down. Gyarados crashed into the pillars and fell in the water. The effects of Mega Evolution wore off, meaning Gyarados was defeated. Now it was time for his partner to take it from here. It was a Chinchou. Yugi had to be careful. Chinchou was an electric Pokémon and his attacks could deal serious damage. Chinchou made the first move by attacking with Spark. Mantine dodged it by gliding and attacked with Supersonic. Chinchou was now confused. His trainer kept commanding him to attack, but he was too confused to obey. Mantine charged in and used Take Down. Chinchou crashed into the wall and was knocked out.

After six days of competing, the Whirl Cup had finally come to an end. Yugi emerged victorious with his friends supporting him and his Pokémon helping him. Maya congratulated Yugi and awarded him with a special item called the Mystic Water. He would also be known as the water Pokémon Alpha Omega.

Maya raised the Sea Spirit staff before the ocean. "O great sea spirit and past heroes of the sea. Continue to watch over the Whirl Cup competition and safeguard the harmony of all humans and Pokémon alike." The Sea Spirit sapphire on her staff began glowing from the sun's light.